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Live advertising sends commuters doughnut mad at Piccadilly Circus

A doughnut vendor’s sales have shot up 150 per cent thanks to an out of home (OOH) advertising first – serving promotions in real-time, using live point of sale (PoS) information, it was announced today. Leading OOH media owner, Exterion Media, Transport for London (TfL) and Shopwave, the iPad PoS specialist, worked together to help Crosstown Doughnuts achieve the sales increase during a two-week advertising trial at Piccadilly Circus.

Exterion Media and TfL teamed up with Shopwave and retailer Crosstown Doughnuts to offer commuters at the station live promotions through the advertising screens in and around the station over a three-week period. This forms part of TfL’s ongoing commitment to finding creative ways to improve the service it provides to customers.

At quieter times, staff at Crosstown Doughnuts’ West End pop-up shop were able to use Shopwave’s PoS software to push a coffee and doughnut deal to Exterion-managed digital screens in and around Piccadilly Circus tube station. Shopwave installed their electronic point of sale software (EPOS system) inside Crosstown Doughnuts’ retail unit. The system enabled the retailer to control the EPOS system directly from the store at Piccadilly Circus, putting them in control of the delivery of advertising messages, allowing for greater flexibility and more dynamic messaging.

In two weeks, the trial increased sales of the promotion itself by 150 per cent and overall transactions at the store by nearly ten per cent. During this period, total growth in transactional deals far exceeded typical store growth.

Jason Cotterrell, managing director UK, Exterion Media comments: “We were the first OOH media owner to exploit the power of digital and our partnership with Shopwave is another example of our pioneering work in this arena. By integrating digital advertising with other platforms, we can provide our customers with more innovative ways of engaging consumers. The aim of the trial was to test and learn, and it has been a great success. As a result, we plan to scale and open this opportunity up to other potential retail partners.”

Graeme Craig, Director of Commercial Development at Transport for London comments: “This partnership is a great example of what we are doing to utilise our assets to deliver the services our customers want. We are delighted that this trial has been such a success and look forward to working with more retailers across our network and using this kind of targeted advertising for the benefit of our customers.”

Julian Polzella, CTO and co-founder at Shopwave explained: “By bringing together the Shopwave Connect system and Exterion Media’s dashboard we are enabling tactical targeting to take place in real-time through an easy-to-use platform. This trial with Crosstown Doughnuts has proved the concept and we look forward to working with Exterion and other brands in the future to see what impact we can make on driving footfall to their businesses.”

JP Then, co-founder of Crosstown Doughnuts added: “Being able to use one system that delivers a simple way to drive footfall to stores through digital screens is a ground-breaking concept for retailers. This is a truly innovative idea and we’re delighted with the results of the trial.”

The trial lasted for two weeks and ran on seven LCD screens around Piccadilly Circus Underground station.